The Mountain Man

Frederic Remington

1903, cast by March 1907 · Bronze · The American Wing

Equal parts trapper and explorer, the Rocky Mountain man played a central role in the North American fur trade, which reached its peak in the 1830s and 1840s. He assumed heroic stature as the quintessential Euro-American Westerner, later supplanted in the public imagination by the cowboy. "The Mountain Man" depicts a dramatic moment in the daily life of a buckskin-clad trapper in which he and his mount work together to descend a precarious slope, harmoniously prevailing over the wilderness. Cast by New York’s Roman Bronze Works foundry in the lost-wax technique, the earliest "Mountain Man" statuettes are sharply delineated with a rich variety of textures, from the fringed buckskin garment to the animal’s hairy coat to the rocklike base. The Metropolitan Museum purchased this statuette—and three others—from Remington in 1907.

Artist

Frederic Remington

Date

1903, cast by March 1907

Medium

Bronze

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1907